Bike-trail Plan Heads To Council

May 12, 2000|By Maria Kantzavelos.

DOWNERS GROVE — After nearly two years of engineering work, a plan for a 40-mile bike trail through Downers Grove this week reached the Village Council, which is expected to approve the blueprint next month.

The plan, which calls for mostly on-street bikeway supplemented by some off-street paths, would be implemented over five years.

Having the plan in place would improve the village's chances of obtaining state and federal grant funding for its implementation, which is estimated to cost nearly $2 million, said Stan Balicki, the village's special projects coordinator.

He said he expects up to 80 percent of the project costs to be met through grants and funding sources.

"We feel confident about our ability to go out and secure grant funding," Balicki said. "There are more funds available at the state and federal level than there ever have been."

The Village Council is expected to vote on the bikeway planon June 6. The Parking & Traffic Commission has recommended that a portion extend along an on-street route near the Northern Illinois Gas utility corridor to connect to the Woodridge bicycle path and to Concord Park, rather than using a path along the utility parcel that lies generally between Springside Avenue and Ticonderoga Road. That earlier plan had sparked opposition from residents whose homes abut the utility's easement.